The body of one of the two firefighters missing since Monday, in the Saint-Urbain sector, was found Wednesday morning in the Gouffre River, not far from Baie-Saint-Paul, confirmed the Sûreté du Québec.
It was shortly before 10 a.m. that the Sûreté du Québec helicopter “would have located a body in the Saint-Urbain sector”, Sergeant Béatrice Dorsainville said in a statement. “In all likelihood, it could be one of two people missing in the same area since last Monday. However, the identification will have to be made to the satisfaction of the coroner,” she said.
Nevertheless, the search will “continue to locate the second person still reported missing”, adds the sergeant. “We are continuing our investigation into the causes and circumstances surrounding this event and are working closely with various partners, including the Commission for Standards, Equity, Health and Safety at Work (CNESST),” insists. -She.
According to our information, the discovery was made near Chemin Saint-Laurent. We still don’t know who it is. Around 2 p.m. Monday, Christopher and his colleague Régis Lavoie, 55, were swept away while trying to help residents struggling with flooding in Saint-Urbain, a small community half an hour north of Baie-Saint-Paul.
Christopher’s father, Davy Lavoie, strongly denounced Tuesday that “people sent” his son “into a river, in a rowboat, when he couldn’t even swim.” Christopher Lavoie had been a volunteer firefighter for a year and a half, says his father. “He loved that job. […] I understand my son’s adrenaline, but how much was he influenced in these decisions? Who is going to take responsibility for all this? “, he wondered in particular.
Research to find the two firefighters had been started on Monday by the Sûreté du Québec (SQ), with the support of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF).
Twenty patrollers on foot and in all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), a helicopter, boats, a drone and divers were also deployed by the police force for this purpose, said a spokesperson for the SQ, Béatrice d’Orsainville.
These excavations will therefore continue in the next few hours, even the next few days, in order to find the body of the second firefighter still missing. Baie-Saint-Paul was cut in half following a historic flood on Monday. Nearly 1,000 people found themselves isolated. In the afternoon, Tuesday, the Leclerc bridge was however reopened to traffic, so that the city is no longer split in two.
